Today was my two week weigh since starting this nutrition plan. I was down 7 pounds and, even though I miss some foods, I feel like recovery is faster. My workouts are pretty strong and everything is happening naturally with my progression. I am surprised to feel such a difference so soon. I think the fact that I was so hungry in the beginning was due to normal adjustments my body was going through. Another thing was the spacing of my meals (which I like so much more). Eating a small meal every 2-2.5 hours keeps your metabolism constantly burning. I cut out all added sugar and it has made a huge difference! I have another weigh in in two weeks and then my plan will be changed to fuel my needs to ultra training.

I sought out advise from a nutritionist (Phaedra Dunaway White, owner of Look Great Naked) to fuel correctly for training for this ultra. I have been increasing my mileage and strength training and with that I have been starving. I didn't want to gain any weight so I decided to ask a professional. Saturday, December 12th I had my first appointment. She weighed me in, measured me and gave me a meal plan. (115 pounds, 22% body fat). This first week went terrible. I was hungry every second. My runs suffered, I was unable to make it through any of the workouts really. I must have called my nutritionist 4 times begging for more food. I definitely couldn't run the trails. Lets see how the next week goes

I really wanted to continue with my training from the NYC Marathon and focus it on my first ultra marathon. I prepared really well for NYC only to have a terrible race and not compete the way I wanted to. Usually I do one marathon in the fall and this time I found it to be better to carry on with training through the winter. My focus is to do a summer ultra marathon. As I began thinking about it I thought, "Why not test another one out in the spring just to see what it is like?" So I signed up for the North Face Endurance Challenge Bear Mountain 50k. My boyfriend, Jared, is going to run the whole thing with me. I haven't told many people the exact race that I have chosen because I wanted this to be just for me. I want this race to solely be an experience to have with my boyfriend. It is a very difficult course and the terrain is something I am not used to at all. I won't be looking at my watch, I wont be trying for any time at all. We are going to go out and finish - and have a little fun along the way. I am looking forward to stopping at the aid stations, meeting new people and having my a$$ handed to me. You cannot get good at something until you push your limits and that is what I am setting out to do. DNFing is a possibility but you know what isn't-giving it my all and having fun! Besides, this is a training run!